


Letters To Home

by Josh89



Series: A Detective's Story [12]
Category: Criminal Case (Video Game)
Genre: Don't copy to another site, F/M, Family Reunions, Implied/Referenced Character Death, January Prompt Challenge, Kind of angsty, Letters, More characters than are tagged, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, Reunions, Those are just the important ones - Freeform, but also heartwarming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:41:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22360510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh89/pseuds/Josh89
Summary: After every case, Detective Josh writes a letter to his sister back in Missouri telling her about the things he's seen.
Relationships: Amy Young/Russell Crane, Marina Romanova/Jonah Karam, Player Character/Grace Delaney
Series: A Detective's Story [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1277363
Comments: 8
Kudos: 9
Collections: /r/FanFiction Prompt Challenge #16 / January 2020





	Letters To Home

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for r/fanfiction's January 2020 Prompts Challenge. It's the longest single-chapter project I have ever written and I'm genuinely proud of what I've accomplished.

Grimsborough, 15th November 2012:  
Ariana,  
I arrived in Grimsborough today and was met at the airport by Inspector David Jones of the local police department. He seems like a nice guy if a little rough around the edges and slightly unobservant. Apparently, he’s my new partner! We were plunged pretty much immediately into an investigation into a murdered girl whose body was found at the city limits, leaning up against the city’s welcome sign. I won’t go into too many details since I know that that kind of thing makes you ill, but Inspector Jones spent the case making sure I knew how things worked here and everything. Turns out the killer was a local football player, and he was (pretty much immediately) sentenced to life in prison. We still don’t know why he killed her, but I have my theories.  
Please say hi to Mom and Dad for me and give them my love.  
I miss you, sis.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
Grimsborough, 29th November 2012:  
Ari,  
We just closed a murder where the victim was found crucified at his own construction site. Strangely appropriate considering he was widely hated for tearing down the city’s oldest church for profit. The psychologist our victim was seeing turned out to have gone a bit crazy himself and was the one who committed the actual crime. Ironically, he’s going to be spending the rest of his life in the very same psychiatric hospital that he used to work for.  
Give my love to Mom and Dad as well.  
I miss you, sis.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
Grimsborough, 4th January 2013:  
Ari,  
I have great news! Jones and I got assigned to patrol in a new district of the city. The Financial Centre. To compare it to some of the real-life cities we’ve seen, imagine if Wall Street in New York was a whole district. It’s a district of rich people and people dedicated to making money by any means possible really. We solved the case of a murdered stockbroker whose body was found in the local stock exchange as well. I won’t tell you how he died since it was pretty gruesome, but his killer was a fellow stockbroker who was angry that the victim was about to close a major deal with an influential businessman. There’s something suspicious going on in this district, sis. I just haven’t quite worked out what it is yet.  
Since I haven’t written since the week before Christmas, a late Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you. And to Mom and Dad as well.  
I miss you, sis.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
Grimsborough, 8th February 2013:  
Ari,  
I think I’m really starting to adjust to things here. Just in time too, because today we investigated the murder of a young woman who was killed by food poisoning. It turns out the cook was her murderer and that the dish that killed her was originally intended for another customer, a notorious food critic who wrote a rather scathing review of the restaurant where the killer worked. That would certainly have added a certain flavor to the dish… (I’m sorry, sis. Dark humor is like a coping mechanism around here).  
Say hi to Mom and Dad for me.  
I miss you, sis. I miss you all.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
Grimsborough, 15th February 2013:  
Ari,  
I love you, sis. I know I usually don’t start my letters by saying those words, but it felt especially important that I do so this time. We just closed a case where we arrested a 12-year-old boy for the accidental death of his best friend. I’m not going into details because it was really quite horrible (though not as awful as some of the other things I’ve seen so far), but… God, the poor kid. His whole life ruined because he made the stupid mistake of getting involved in a robbery his best friend was trying to pull and accidentally murdered him. I suppose, on the bright side, at least his sentence is only one year, and he was only punished for the robbery and not for the murder… But still.  
I miss you, sis. I really do.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
Grimsborough, 22nd February 2013:  
Ari,  
Happy Birthday, little sis. You probably received my present in the mail this morning, at least if the courier people have delivered it like they were supposed to do. It’s hard to believe you’re already 17 years old. And congratulations on passing your exams. I’m so proud of you.  
Jones and I have been promoted again, to the city’s historical district. The city’s museum and the theatre are both absolutely amazing, and the district hosts a dog pageant annually that is fiercely competitive. If you ever come to Grimsborough to visit, I’ll have to show you around.  
I miss you and our parents, sis.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
Grimsborough, 19th April 2013:  
Ari,  
Well. That was a rough case. Now I remember why I used to hate dad’s taxidermy hobby. Yes, the victim this time was taxidermied. The museum curator did it in order to try and attract more people to the museum because she felt more people were interested in the sights provided by the victim’s novels. I know how you hate details, so I’m not going to say anything else.  
Something funny is going on around here though. With the dog pageant in just a couple of months from now, we’ve been getting reports of people placing bowls of dog food in places frequented by dogs that just so happen to be participating in the pageant. Food mixed with rat poison, if the bowl we found today is anything to go by. Something’s rotten in the Historical Centre, Ari, and Jones and I are going to have to figure out what it is soon.  
I miss you all, sis.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
Grimsborough, 24th May 2013:  
Ari,  
I never thought I’d be the kind of person to believe in the supernatural, but the last few cases have made me start to question things. Of course, so far, all three of them have all ended in completely normal ways, with completely human explanations and culprits, but they’ve been made to look supernatural and the similarities are just kind of creepy.  
In our most recent case, Jones and I were investigating the death of a man named Hector Fernandez, who died after being crushed by a falling chandelier in the foyer of his family’s mansion. It turned out that his wife had killed him as revenge because his negligence caused the death of their infant son. And because he’d always claimed that the house was haunted, and lied to her by telling her that that was what had caused the death of their son… Well, she made it look that way. I feel sorry for her, but Jones and I had to do our jobs and arrest her.  
We haven’t made any further progress on the rat poison investigation yet, but it’s more for lack of evidence than anything. It seems to have slowed to a trickle after the taxidermy case last month, thank god for that. With the Dog Pageant next month though, we can’t afford to let our guards down.  
Miss you, sis.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
Grimsborough, 14th June 2013:  
Ari,  
The person responsible for the rat poison in the dog food struck again today, despite our best efforts. Do you remember I told you we arrested a girl named Lily Robinson for murdering her boyfriend in the second case we worked after our promotion to the Historical Center? Jones and I were doing last-minute security checks of the Dog Pageant arena before the event and we found her grandmother (and her dog) murdered.  
Poisoned carrot cupcakes. The killer, who turned out to be Margaret Littlewood (the sweet old lady who was always bringing us cookies and other treats) was using a recipe for poisoned carrot cupcakes to kill dogs in order to make sure that she won the competition. And she almost killed Jones too when she tried to throw us off her trail. Working with Ramirez, the patrol officer I’ve mentioned in my letters before, we were able to follow the evidence and arrest her. She gave us the antidote and we were able to get it to the hospital in time to save Jones’s life.  
Even after 31 cases, I’m not sure that I’ll ever truly understand human nature… But you can be damn well sure that I’m going to try my hardest to solve every case I can.  
Love you and miss you all, sis.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
Grimsborough, 19th December 2013:  
Ari,  
I… I don’t know how to deal with this. Chief Samuel King just admitted to the murder of Adam Bentley. Before we could get any information out of him as to why he killed Adam, Chief King shot himself to death. My boss is dead, Ari. He’s dead and I don’t know how to deal with the fact that for once in my life I’m at a complete loss for what to do next.  
Please don’t be surprised if you don’t hear from me for a while. Jones and I have a possible lead, but I have no idea if it’s going to pan out yet and I’d rather not say anything until I know what’s going on. Since I don’t know if I’ll have time to write again before the end of the month, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  
I miss you and I miss our parents.  
Love you all.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
Grimsborough, 20th February 2014:  
Ari,  
Happy 18th birthday, sis. I’ve included a birthday card with this letter, and inside the card is your birthday present. I know how much you like musicals.  
The lead Jones and I were investigating finally paid off. An evil organization named the Crimson Order has been orchestrating events in Grimsborough for the past 500 years, including Chief King’s murder of Adam Bentley two months ago. And the mayor was one of their members, along with his mother, the warden of the city prison, and the corrupt businessman whose arrest got Jones and I promoted to the Historical Centre in the first place. It was referred to as the ‘trial of the century’ here, so you might have seen some snippets of it on the news or something there in Missouri. I’m not sure though.  
I’ve been offered a job with the Police department in Pacific Bay. I haven’t quite decided if I’m going to accept it yet, but I’m definitely considering it. All is quiet in Grimsborough at the moment now that we’ve arrested the Crimson Order, and they say that variety is the spice of life, so it could be interesting to see some new sights. And I guess I’d be able to send Mom some great case ideas for those crime novels she said that she wanted to write. If she ever stops procrastinating long enough to actually get them written, anyway.  
I miss you all, sis.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
Pacific Bay, 13th March 2014:  
Ari,  
You could probably tell from the address on this letter, but I’m in Pacific Bay. I’ve been here for a couple of days now. I’m still adjusting to being in a whole new city, with whole new colleagues and a whole new working environment, but I think I’m slowly getting there. My new boss’s name is Andrea Marquez, and my new partner is a Junior Officer named Amy Young. No, I’m not kidding, that is genuinely her last name. She’s just a couple of years older than you and she seems like a really interesting person. Naïve, but genuinely nice.  
The lab team… Well, so far, I’ve met Roxie Sparks (the party girl coroner, who seems friendly enough, if rather… eccentric), the forensic expert Yann Toussaint (who seems like a nice guy), and tech expert Hannah Choi (It’s hard to say what sort of person she is. She seems nice enough, and she did say that she was looking forward to working with me when I met her, but there’s just something about her that weirds me out a little). Apparently, the team has a profiler, Russell Crane, as well, but I haven’t had a chance to meet him yet. Hopefully, I will soon.  
For our first case, we investigated the death of local celebrity Jimmy ‘Ice P’ Lewis. By shark, if you can believe it. Ironically, the killer turned out to be the local shark expert, who was angry at the victim because his (the victim’s) reality tv show was driving the sharks away from the area. It looks like the killers here are going to be just as crazy as most of the ones in Grimsborough were. At least that means a nice variety of crimes to solve, I suppose.  
I miss you, sis.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
Pacific Bay, 20th March 2014:  
Ari,  
I met my other partner today. His name is Detective Frank Knight. As far as I can tell, the man is an alcoholic loudmouth with anger issues. But he’s also street-smart, and not afraid to get his hands dirty. He’s not the most conventional cop I’ve had the pleasure of working with so far, but he’s a damned good one. At least, as far as I can tell so far.  
I still haven’t met Russell Crane yet. I’m hoping I’ll meet him in the next couple of cases, but I’m starting to feel like he doesn’t exist after all and that the very idea that he exists is a shared hallucination between every single other member of my team. Ah well, I guess I’ll find out soon enough.  
I miss you all.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
Pacific Bay, 3rd April 2014:  
Ari,  
I finally met Russell Crane today. Amy and I were investigating the death of a young woman killed by poison during a roller derby match and one of the clues we needed examined fit perfectly with his specialty of psychology. I’m not the biggest fan of psychology myself, but if it helps us to catch the killer, then I’m willing to do anything.  
Russell seems like a nice guy, if somewhat full of himself. From what the others say, the man’s a genius. I’m definitely seeing that. It remains to be seen whether he’ll mellow out over time, but I’m looking forward to finding out.  
Amy was blushing when we visited Russell’s lab today. I suspect she has a crush on him.  
I miss you all.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
Pacific Bay, 17th July 2014:  
Ari,  
It’s starting to become increasingly clear to me that the people of Pacific Bay have a hell of a lot of issues. With the rate at which new cases keep popping up, it amazes me that there’s still anyone actually living in the region at all.  
Amy and I were exploring Inner City when we found our most recent victim. Killed by blood thinners that were slipped into her coffee. By her child’s nanny, horribly enough.  
Every time I think I’ve solved the most gruesome case I’ve ever seen, something new comes along to make me rethink that… I suppose next week will be no exception.  
I miss you all.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
Pacific Bay, 18th December 2014:  
Ari,  
Movie star and prominent Utopian cult member Rex Logan was found murdered by acid on the set of his new movie, Warzone Pacific, earlier today. His killer was his co-star, and fellow Utopian, Daniel Lambert. Daniel killed Rex because he thought that Rex was just using the cult to gain fame and fortune for himself instead of truly believing in the cult as he (Daniel) did. It was kind of sad really.  
In our investigations into what the Utopian plan for the upcoming film awards is, we discovered that they’re planning some kind of massive brainwashing scheme. I would suggest that you and our parents avoid watching the awards this year, at least until we know things are sorted out and can safely stop them from carrying this scheme of theirs out.  
I’m starting to get concerned about Russell. The reveal that he was once part of the Utopian Cult has shaken us all, but in particular, it’s shaken Amy, who is especially fond of him. He’s explained his history, and it’s definitely rough, but he’s a damned important part of our team and we’re still happy to have him working with us.  
Oh, and since next week’s letter won’t reach you until after Christmas, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and both Mom and Dad.  
I miss you all.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
Pacific Bay, 15th January 2015:  
Ari,  
It’s over. We’ve shut down the Utopians cult and arrested many of their members, dismantling their entire brainwashing scheme. While they were able to perform the brainwashing that they wanted to, my team and I were able to work out exactly how they did it and quickly create our own tape to reverse their evil work. Plus we helped Russell and his father reconcile, so I’m definitely satisfied with how things went overall.  
We’ve been reassigned again. Apparently, since things have calmed down a fair bit here in Ivywood, Chief Marquez has decided that we’re moving on to the district of Rhine Canyon next. I’m definitely looking forward to finally being able to see the stars again. There really is far too much light pollution here in Ivywood.  
I miss you all.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
Pacific Bay, 19th February 2015:  
Ari,  
It’s hard to believe that you’re turning 19 in just a couple of days. If I’m entirely honest, I still think of you as the fresh-faced 16-year old girl that you were when I left home for Grimsborough just three years ago. It’s weird seeing pictures of you now and trying to reconcile them with the memories I have of you.  
Anyway, our latest case was ridiculously brutal, so no case talk this week. I remember you mentioning that you were thinking about getting into musical theatre, so I ordered you something special earlier today. It should hopefully have been delivered by the time you get this letter.  
I love you all.  
Happy birthday, sis.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
Pacific Bay, 30th July 2015:  
Frank died earlier today after being shot in the forehead by an escaped convict. He may have betrayed us, but he explained his reasons before he ran off and got killed and he died a hero. He was a good man.  
Frank and Karen’s eldest daughter, a girl named Laura, was run over by a car years ago, and her death led to their divorce and Frank’s alcoholism. Sadly, their other daughter fell into an irreversible coma after suffering from meningitis just a few months ago, shortly after we left Ivywood.  
Frank and his wife rekindled their relationship and Karen arranged the theft of plutonium from the Mennagio Casino in the Paradise City district, telling Frank that the plutonium could be used to power a supercomputer that they could upload their comatose daughter’s consciousness into. Unfortunately, the real purpose of the plutonium turned out to be to create bombs that would be dropped on the entirety of Pacific Bay. Karen kidnapped Amy and me and imprisoned us in her company’s headquarters, knowing that we would be able to escape and investigate for ourselves. It’s unfortunate that neither of them will live to see the fact that we won.  
Karen Knight was killed by escaped convict Alden Greene just before we escaped the headquarters. Alden himself was killed by Frank just yesterday. I suppose I should be relieved, really; Alden had a bad habit of escaping from prisons. Frank Knight’s killer turned out to be Amy’s ex-boyfriend, Bobby Prince, from White Peaks. He went insane and tried to kill us, and Amy was forced to kill him in self-defense.  
Oh, and Amy and Russell are together now, so that’s a bonus as well!  
I’ve been offered a new job since we saved Pacific Bay. It’s with The Bureau, the worldwide security agency. The world’s top police force wants me to work with them, Ari. This is insane. I’ve talked to the rest of my team, and they’ve all advised me to take the job. I have to meet their plane at the airport in a few hours to leave.  
It’s hard to say where in the world my next letter will be coming from since we’ll probably be moving around all the time, but I’ll do my best to keep you up to date with my travels.  
Love you, sis. Say hi to Mom and Dad for me.  
Miss you all.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
London, 13th August 2015:  
Ari,  
My first case with my new team was intense. The prince of the United Kingdom was found poisoned by an extremely nasty gas in a phone booth by Westminster Abbey. After much investigation, we were able to discover that he was poisoned by his lover, and one of the palace servants, a maid named Edith Grimshaw. She confessed to the murder and said that she’d been blackmailed into the plot to kill him by an unknown party, although at the time she had no idea that her actions would result in her lover’s death. Ironically, from what she told us; she was trying to keep both of them alive. I just… I just feel so bad for her, I really do.  
My new team seems close so far. As far as I can tell, they’re a close-knit bunch, though they still don’t always get along. Our team coroner is a Korean woman named Angela Douglas, who seems… perfectly normal, really. She’s smart, has a Nobel Prize in Biology, and is probably the most normal person I’ve had the pleasure of meeting since I got into law enforcement three years ago. At least, as far as I can tell. She’s married to the Australian Lars Douglas, our chief of forensics, who seems to have a knack for making things explode. It remains to be seen whether or not that’s a good thing.  
Lars and Angela seem to complement each other extremely well. Where she’s serious and focused on doing her job, he’s fun-loving and excitable. Every time we’ve had to have him examine something so far, he’s insisted on telling a really bad knock-knock joke before he gives us our results. Bad knock-knock jokes at that.  
Our other team members include a Swiss historian named Armand Dupont (who is extremely good at his job (though apparently extremely long-winded)), a British goth hacker and tech expert called Elliot Clayton, an extremely pretty Russian profiler named Marina Romanov (who Jack seems to have a crush on, at least judging from the fact that he can’t seem to stop himself from flirting with her all the time), and a Hispanic former reporter and photographer named Carmen Martinez. We also have Chief Ripley, a tough American woman who was responsible for founding The Bureau in the first place, and a woman named Ingrid Bjorn, who serves as Ripley’s Administrative Assistant, and comes from… well, actually, we really don’t know. Jack seems to be American as well, but other than that it’s hard to say where he’s from.  
Jack himself is… interesting. Cocky and very sure of himself, he gets along well with both Angela and Lars (the latter being Jack’s best friend). He seems to think of himself as a Casanova-type character. I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t try to flirt with someone new in every location we visit.  
Speaking of locations, I have my next destination. Paris, France. We’ve been told that a manuscript we’ve been looking for has just been bought at auction there, and I’ve been ordered to fly out there and meet up with Carmen to try and track it down. Jack’s staying here in London to keep an eye on things for the time being, but he’ll catch up with me later on.  
Love you, sis. Say hi to Mom and Dad for me.  
Miss you all.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
Giza, 5th November 2015:  
Ari,  
Jack and I are in Egypt trying to track down the person responsible for killing Chief Ripley with a poisoned dart, a person known only as The Sword. We’ve made alliances with a hired gun named Jonah Karam (who, as we’ve recently learned, has a history with Marina) and a Mossad agent (who was undercover as a bellydancer) named Asal. From what Asal has told us, The Sword is a member of a powerful international terrorist group known as SOMBRA, which has cells all over the world. The Promethian Cult that we dealt with before Chief Ripley’s murder was their European cell.  
The Sword has been arming and financing rebel groups in the area in an attempt to create a new SOMBRA cell. They’ve been doing this through an extremely notorious international arms dealer named Seamus Cummings, but thanks to this knowledge and with some help from Jonah, we can use this against them.  
Jack and I have spoken to Jonah, and he and Elliot are arranging a meeting with Seamus Cummings in Dubai. Our plan is to pose as rebel leaders and buy weapons from him so that The Sword will contact us. And then when they do… we can arrest them and make them pay for killing the Chief.  
Next stop, Dubai!  
I love you and miss you all.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
Baghdad, 26th November 2015:  
Ari,  
Chief Ripley is alive. After we finally caught and killed The Sword with Jonah’s help, we were approached by a disguised woman, who quickly revealed herself to be the chief whose death we’d been trying to avenge for the past two months. She apologized for the deceit and explained what had happened.  
It turns out that she’d known the Sword would try to kill her with a poisoned dart and when we were celebrating with champagne after saving Europe from the machinations of the Promethian Cult, she had taken an antidote to that same poison and pretended to die when the dart struck her. None of us were in on her plan at all, not even Ingrid.  
On another note, we recruited Jonah Karam as our new Field Expert and reunited a boy who was kidnapped by the Sword (as bait for a trap The Sword was trying to lure us into) with his mother. And we received a video message from Marina’s mother, asking us to come and help COSMORUS (the Russian space agency) investigate a mole in their ranks. Marina wasn’t happy about it (parent issues), but Chief Ripley decided it was a good idea. So we’re off to Moscow!  
I miss you, sis.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
Siberia, 24th December 2015:  
Ari,  
I knew Russia was cold in winter, but I didn’t quite expect it to be this cold. It’s gorgeous though, that much is for certain.  
The case we investigated this week was the murder of a CIA agent (who was undercover as a COSMORUS maintenance worker) named Nick Kringle. He was found frozen to death in the middle of Siberia’s Lake Baikal, a bullet wound in his chest. He was killed by an ice bullet.  
Nick Kringle was also a traitor. While he was a CIA agent, he was secretly selling COSMORUS information to SOMBRA in order to help them to steal and launch a satellite and begin an operation known, from what we’ve been able to gather, as Darkness Descends. Paired with the launch codes that their other mole inside COSMORUS was able to steal for them, the satellite would be a deadly weapon in SOMBRA’s hands. Asal, who killed him on Mossad orders, was attempting to stop him from selling the satellite blueprints.  
Unfortunately, though she was able to kill him, he was able to sell the blueprints to SOMBRA. We were able to track some of the other payments he received from them, and we’ve discovered that they’re secretly building a warehouse hideout in Mongolia. We leave in a few hours to catch the Trans-Siberian Railway train that will get us there, and I have just enough time to finish and post this letter before we do so.  
Love you all. Say hi to Mom and Dad for, as well as Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Hopefully, I can say it in person next time.  
I won’t be able to send letters until next week at the earliest since that’s when we arrive in Mongolia, but I’ll write when I can.  
I miss you, sis.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
New Zealand, 2nd June 2016:  
Ari,  
This week we’re in New Zealand, following the trail of one of SOMBRA’s recruits, a young man called Baxter Fraser. Searching the film set for the world-famous ‘The Ringed Lord’ movies, we instead found the movie director, Sir Jackson Peters, dead of a terrible injury to the head.  
His killer was a local rugby player who killed Jackson Peters in order to destroy videos the victim had of him (the killer) using steroids.  
We were right about Baxter Fraser’s presence in the country, though. And also about SOMBRA having allies here. After solving the case, we discovered that SOMBRA was financially backing the movie, and had sent several of their assassins, claiming that they were ‘extras’ for the films. Bronwyn Peters, the victim’s wife, was paid to send the ‘extras’ to many different countries.  
One of those agents has popped up in Australia. In Sydney, to be precise. That’s where we’re going next.  
Love you all.  
I miss you, sis. Hopefully, I’ll be able to see you soon.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
Madagascar, 23rd June 2016:  
Ari,  
Our plane crashed on the way to Kenya. One of the engines exploded. We later discovered that our plane was shot down by a mercenary hired by SOMBRA in an attempt to kill everyone on board before we could get to Kenya and learn exactly what their assassins were up to. And to make matters worse, one of our own agents is a mole for them.  
I have my suspicions as to who it could be, but I don’t want to say anything yet in case I’m wrong. And, if I’m entirely honest, this is one case where I definitely would prefer to be wrong.  
Our next destination is, once again, Kenya, where we’re supposed to be meeting Lavinia De Brills, who is the heiress of the world’s largest diamond firm. Hopefully, she’ll be able to give us some useful information.  
I love you all.  
I miss you, sis.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
Antarctica, 4th August 2016:  
Ari,  
As I said in my letter last week, we came to Antarctica looking to recruit Grace Delaney, former forensic expert of the Grimsborough Police Department, as our new coroner in the wake of Angela’s arrest. She was delighted at the opportunity to work together with me again, of course, as we hadn’t seen each other since I left Grimsborough two years ago. She’s replaced Angela as our coroner and is also temporarily replacing Lars as lab chief while he’s taking some time off to stay with his daughters in Australia.  
We’ve discovered that SOMBRA sent agents on an expedition to Antarctica in the 1950s, but as the expedition was deemed a failure by the Argentinian government, we don’t have any further information as to what was going on there.  
Logically, Chief Ripley decided that our next destination was to be Argentina itself. Buenos Aires, more specifically. Hopefully, we can find more information about SOMBRA’s plans and their origins there.  
I love you all.  
Miss you, sis.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
New York, 9th November 2016:  
Ari,  
Dupont is dead, shot by the traitorous Vice President when she attempted to kill Jack and me in the city’s catacombs. Jack killed her in self-defense, and the kidnapped President has been rescued. The last few days have been a hell of a wild ride, but SOMBRA has finally been dealt a crippling blow. Their list of agents has been distributed to law enforcement agencies all over the world, and their members are being arrested or killed (from trying to resist arrest) as I write this.  
You may have seen it on the news, but we won the UN Peace Prize for our work stopping SOMBRA. Dupont lived just long enough to celebrate with us and to give us his ancestor’s notebook before he died. It’s a tragedy, but at least he’s at peace now.  
The Bureau has been disbanded. Our purpose for existing was to stop SOMBRA, and now that that’s done, we’re going our separate ways. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, trying to think about what I would do without the rest of the team, and I think I’m going to come home for a bit. Besides, I have someone I’d like you to meet.  
See you soon, sis.  
Josh.  
~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~~-~  
Missouri, 12th November 2016:  
“Are you sure about this?”  
I smiled warmly at the red-haired woman beside me. “I’ve never been surer. Ari’s read my letters. She knows what to expect”.  
“It’s just… you never really talked much about your family while we were working together”.  
I shrugged. “There was honestly never really a reason to. Honestly, stop worrying and let’s go get our bags. They’ll love you, I promise”.  
Walking through the airport, it didn’t take the two of us very long to locate the luggage claim and get our bags, and from there we walked outside where a smiling young woman, approximately 20 years of age, was waiting for us. As soon as she saw us, she yelled my name before sprinting up to us and pulling me into a huge hug, making muffled sobbing sounds as she briefly rested her face on my jacket. “God, I missed you, bro”.  
I smiled warmly, ruffling her hair playfully. “I missed you too, Ari. I missed you too”.  
Shifting away so that she could see both of us, she turned towards my red-haired companion, holding out a hand in offer of a handshake. “I’m Ariana Ford, but my friends and family call me Ari”.  
The red-haired woman smiled gently, giving my hand a gentle squeeze before shaking my sister’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Ari. I’m Grace”.


End file.
